There is something universally grating about a rich kid, having done nothing other than be born to affluent parents, basking in the benefits of his or her station.
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And when that rich kid, who has enjoyed every possible advantage and every expense subsidized adopts fiscally conservative policies, expecting people to just “bootstrap” it into the middle class, well, that is infuriating.
You know the type. They’re not hard to find.
They’re tailgating you in their gifted BMW. They’re answering questions confidently in class, without bothering to raise their hand, even though they have no idea what they’re talking about. They’re flooding your social media with photos of their Ivy League graduations, international travels, and designer pets. They’re puking their guts out all weekend but swaggering into the office on Monday with a big, chipper smile. They’re the worst.
And Donald Trump, Jr. might just be their paragon.
Sharing the name of the decade’s most successful politician, Donald Trump, Jr. is poised for his own political career. He hasn’t really done anything of merit; he’s just Donald Trump’s oldest son; the heir-apparent. Maybe he might run for the highest office of the land himself?
Although, Don Jr.’s political prospects may have just been complicated. A lawsuit, brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, alleges that Don. Jr. – along with his siblings – helped their father commit fraud. Namely, the Trumps inflated the value of their holdings for the purpose of securing better loans and for qualifying for tax exemptions.
I can’t speak to the legitimacy of the charges – but it sounds like something Don Jr. might get mixed up with. Also, ironically, that a billionaire family would lie to earn tax relief is at the heart of the “Swamp”-like corruption Trump avowed to disrupt.
Legal complications aside, Don Jr. does appear to be marketing himself for political viability. For one – and I may be reading too much into this – he has been selling himself as an outdoorsman. During the GOP 2016 convention, Don claimed that he started riding farm tractors at a young age. Right. His website has a picture of him fishing. The picture looks like what you’d expect a billionaire’s son with a dying fish in an effort to appeal to a conservative base would look like: canned b*llshit.
Don Trump Jr.’s bio reads like a “How To Suckle Into Your 40s” instruction manual. Basically, he went to Penn State, his father’s alma mater (I’m gonna float a guess that Don’s SAT scores were below Penn’s median), skipped grad school, and then plugged straight into the Trump Organization where he is now an Executive Vice President.
When Don isn’t running his dad’s company, he is an “accomplished and sought after speaker” who has also been “featured as an advisor on the highly acclaimed NBC shows ‘The Apprentice’ and ‘The Celebrity Apprentice,’ which, for the record, were shows starring his dad.
Naturally, like so many who operate without the need for a social safety net, Don is an on-brand Trump conservative. He’s pretty generic. He has been publishing books to espouse his worldview – although, I suspect he doesn’t write the things. In 2019, Don Jr. released Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us. In 2020, he released Liberal Privilege: Joe Biden and the Democrats’ Defense of the Indefensible. I haven’t read them. I don’t plan to. And while I’m happy to criticize the left, Don Jr. isn’t a credible source and is open to criticism.
If Don Trump Jr. emerges from the latest round of legal troubles unscathed he may inherit his father’s base. Actually, even if Don is scathed he may inherit his father’s base. Either way, it would be fitting, given what Don Jr. has already inherited, without talent or merit.
By Gage Skidmore: Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, Arizona.
Donald Trump. Image by Gage Skidmore.
Donald Trump speaking at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C.
Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, he joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. He lives in Oregon and listens to Dokken. Follow him on Twitter @harrison_kass.
